Hoax cookie order sticks Girl Scouts with 6,000 boxes

Troops thought they received large corporate order

POSTED: 11:09 AM Mar 18 2013UPDATED: 11:25 AM Mar 18 2013

Two Oregon Girl Scout troops are trying to unload 6,000 boxes of cookies after receiving a huge order that turned out to be a hoax.

The two sister troops thought they had received a $24,000 corporate order from an Oregon company. An acquaintance of one of the troop leaders placed the huge order over email, and since they exchanged several emails, the troop leader thought it was legitimate, according to The Oregonian.

But when the cookies arrived and the company had no clue about the order, the Girl Scouts discovered the order actually came from the acquaintance’s daughter, who was using her mother’s email to pull a prank, according to "Good Morning America" and The Oregonian.

Sarah Miller, communications director for the Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington, told the Oregonian the prankster didn’t understand the magnitude of the joke and described the incident as a "tough lesson regarding business ethics" for the two troops.

The community rallied around the Scouts, though, buying 3,000 of the 6,000 boxes during a special one-day sale.